India: 3 sisters, aged 5-11, raped, killed

New Delhi — Indian police said on Thursday that they have launched a manhunt for men suspected of raping and killing three sisters, aged 5 to 11, in the latest case of sexual violence to grip India.

The sisters' bodies were found in a village well in Bhandara district in Maharashtra state on 14 February after they had gone missing from school, police officer Javed Ahmed said. The area is more than 1 000km south of New Delhi, the capital.

As the victims' mother accused police of a shoddy investigation, enraged villagers forced shops to close, burned tires and blocked a national highway passing through the area for several hours on Wednesday, demanding justice.

"The police did not take the case seriously and did nothing for two days," the CNN-IBN television news channel quoted the mother as saying. Her name was withheld.

One police officer has been suspended for not acting promptly, Indian Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel, who represents Bhandara district in Parliament, told reporters in New Delhi.

"It is unacceptable. All of us have to hang our heads in shame," Patel said.

The fatal gang rape of a young woman in a moving bus in New Delhi on 16 December set off nationwide protests about India's treatment of women and spurred the government to hurry through a new package of laws to protect them.

The gang rape victim and her male friend, who also was badly beaten up in the attack, were dumped naked on the roadside, and the woman died from her injuries two weeks later in a Singapore hospital. Five men are being tried on rape and murder charges in that case.

A new law enacted by the government has increased the sentences for rape from the existing seven to 10 years to a maximum of 20 years.

It also provides for the death penalty in extreme cases of rape that result in death or leave the victim in a coma. It has also made voyeurism, stalking, acid attacks and the trafficking of women punishable under criminal law.

Comments

Eterni80 - 2013-02-21 16:52

does India have the death penalty ?

opel.astra.3576 - 2013-02-21 16:55

yes they do

Mandy Casey - 2013-02-21 17:21

Rape plus murder could get the death penalty. Up to the judge.
Only rape = prison sentence.

kseyffert - 2013-02-21 19:05

It seems so, I might just emigrate....

Retha Stoger - 2013-02-21 17:44

It is terribly, terribly sad: the state of humankind!

Jason Lok - 2013-02-21 18:50

These r beastly ppl,( rapers) in my research I read that they hav very cruel n inhumane soldiers too, arent these X soldiers bored with lif?? just a thought

Mark - 2013-02-21 19:07

How do you change the thinking of "someone" that does not have any conscience linked to their thought process? I am quite comfortable with the idea that people that choose to act outside of the constraints of what humanity deems to be normal behaviour should not receive the protection offered by the system they opted out of......our kids are in real danger